When my sixteen-year-old son said he wanted to spend the summer caring for his disabled grandmother, I almost cried. After years of attitude, rebellion, and slamming doors, this felt like a turning point. A moment of maturity. Maybe he was finally growing up.
I was wrong.
It started with a call I’ll never forget.
“Please… come save me from him,” my mother whispered, her voice trembling like a candle flickering in the wind.
Then the line went dead.
For a moment, I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. My mother—proud, iron-willed, never one to scare easily—sounded afraid. Of him.
Of my son.
My hands were shaking as I grabbed my keys and flew out the door.